shafnutz05 wrote:I'll be honest, the cost is the only thing that has kept me from trying it in the past

That seems to be the number one complaint i hear. For what it's worth, shelling out 400 dollars doesn't seem too bad to me. But that's just my opinion.

I completely agree...my biggest regret is for all of the Spanish I learned throughout high school and college, I remember so little.

Same here man. What is crazy is that just doing that demo suddenly snapped my brain back to stuff i had completely forgotten. Shows how little i actually learned in high school though. But also, when i was 17, i had no interest either.

From some research I've done, it sounds like a very good supplement - but not something that you probably could use on it's own. But I'd also like to hear from someone here who's used it, as I'm considering it as well. Especially if anyone has used it on an ipad.

I've done Pimsleur level 1 (russian) and part of level 2 - I mostly use it when driving and that works well - it's very good and I recommend it. But I'd say that too, is probably also just a supplement.

Recently, one awesome poster suggested to try "Mango Languages" (http://www.mangolanguages.com/ ) when I inquired about resources to learn Spanish. I found that program very useful. It looks like many universities AND many public libraries (http://findmango.com/) utilize this program - which means you can get all the electronic resources for free (40 different languages, several levels of difficulty, possibility to learn from the computer or an iPhone/Android phone).

In case of my university, I just needed to long into the library website to obtain the username/password - and then indeed all the resources can be obtained for a total price of $0.00 .

Tomas wrote:Recently, one awesome poster suggested to try "Mango Languages" (http://www.mangolanguages.com/ ) when I inquired about resources to learn Spanish. I found that program very useful. It looks like many universities AND many public libraries (http://findmango.com/) utilize this program - which means you can get all the electronic resources for free (40 different languages, several levels of difficulty, possibility to learn from the computer or an iPhone/Android phone).

In case of my university, I just needed to long into the library website to obtain the username/password - and then indeed all the resources can be obtained for a total price of $0.00 .

I was going to come here and recommend this...but I think it was me who gave the original recommendation. Glad you found it useful!

Our language faculty (and study abroad students) rave about Mango Languages. I should try it out while I'm on break. There is also a Pirate language course!

A few years ago, I actually scored a free copy from RS as my company was looking to publish a pared down version of their product in jewel case, and JC was my business. During the initial discussion they asked me what languages I was interested in (personally) and so they sent me samples. Got the main client and ALL THREE LEVELS for: German, Italian, Spanish (Castilian), Portuguese (Brazilian), and Japanese. All told, they swagged me something like $2,000 worth of free software..... and we were never able to do a deal.

I think I posted before that I'd love to learn Italian and was interested in Rosetta Stone. The issue is, I woulnd't mind shelling out the cash if I was truly dedicated, but at this point in my life, with some of the hours I work and now two kids, I would blow it off and just let it sit there. Maybe one day when my kids get a little older, I will give it a shot.

Once you have the basics down, the best way seems to be to find someone who speaks that language and have lunch together a few times a week.I worked with a German woman and my vague command of the language disappeared when she took another job.It's all about use it or lose it, from my experience.

columbia wrote:Once you have the basics down, the best way seems to be to find someone who speaks that language and have lunch together a few times a week.I worked with a German woman and my vague command of the language disappeared when she took another job.It's all about use it or lose it, from my experience.

That is unquestionably the best way to do it. But that's not a viable option for many people, and that's where something like Rosetta Stone comes in.

And "use it or lose" is 100% accurate, too. But if you gain a certain level of proficiency in a language, go off the rails for a while, but then come back into it, you'll be surprised how quickly you re-learn the language. My wife speaks fluent Japanese (lived in Osaka three years), and was always shying away from speaking it. Then I started working for a Japanese company, and she came to the holiday party...... was the hit of the night, the giant (as in tall) gaijin woman who spoke perfectly accented Osaka-ben.

From my experience with language in school, most teachers were not good at teaching language.

I've only had one good French teacher, but I only had her for 1 year in middle school. She was tough, but she made you constantly repeat words and phrases over and over again. I learned more from her in half a year, than I did with 2 additional years of French, and 6 years of Spanish.

Teachers were more concerned with covering all the material, and that didn't work for me or nearly everyone else.

Spangler wrote:From my experience with language in school, most teachers were not good at teaching language.

I've only had one good French teacher, but I only had her for 1 year in middle school. She was tough, but she made you constantly repeat words and phrases over and over again. I learned more from her in half a year, than I did with 2 additional years of French, and 6 years of Spanish.

Teachers were more concerned with covering all the material, and that didn't work for me or nearly everyone else.

Definitely.

I had 4 different German teachers... 2 in High School and 2 in college, and hands down I learned the most from the first one. Was she a cranky old *****? yes. But she actually taught us the language. The second HS teacher was more interested in singing drinking songs and telling stories. The teachers I had at Pitt were a joke (which is sad because they do have some experienced German teachers - I just didn't get them). The first was an Indian who couldn't pronounce certain letters, thought the later half of my last name was my first name, and would put like 100 vocabulary words on the board and refuse to let us copy them down. The other was from the Czech Republic and was so insecure that she told me that when I laughed in class, she thought I was laughing at her....

Teachers spend too much time in teaching grammar, and not enough time on speaking the language. The goal is not to perfectly understand the rules of the language, but be able to communicate with someone.

The best way to learn a language is to get a girlfriend who doesn't speak English.

Tico Rick wrote:Teachers spend too much time in teaching grammar, and not enough time on speaking the language. The goal is not to perfectly understand the rules of the language, but be able to communicate with someone.

The best way to learn a language is to get a girlfriend who doesn't speak English.

^This.

I used Rosetta Stone a few years back to pickup some Russian, and I had a good experience with it. Was able to communicate with some grad student in Russian regularly, and like Tico says I was able to get the messages across by speaking the language instead of having perfect grammar.

Most foreigners I've seen on other forums who speak English don't have perfect grammar, but we can at least understand them. Classes are a waste of time imo, I took 4 years of Spanish in High School and still can't give directions to a bathroom.